What a wonderful day we had taking part in Boris's Sky Ride around London.... I must admit I was really looking forward to the opportunity to see those wonderful landmarks that we all know so well from the vantage point of my bike, with no cars to worry about! We set off from Enfield station, having cycled into town and found we
were not alone in this notion, lots of families got on with their bikes at the station - we had decided the easiest thing to do was to get to Liverpool Street. I must say it was very odd to be wheeling my bike round a station in London and let me tell you it's not actually that easy to get a bike up an escalator! Liz took me through all the back streets as it's right near where she works. Suddenly we turned a corner and there we were in amongst literally thousands of like minded people in bright yellow tunics, madly cycling round London. We later learnt that approx. 85,000 people had turned out for the event! So as you can imagine the going was not exactly fast paced but that was fine as it gave us the opportunity to look at all the sites. We went under a tunnel that they had designated the loud zone - people rang their bike bells in sheer joyous abandon. Liz was very sad to discover she hadn't actually got one! There were also people on weird and wonderful bikes, a very cool lady adjacent to us for a time had a tricycle on which she had added a massive speaker! She played some awesome music as we peddled along, I really wanted to stay by her but she was soon swallowed up by the masses. We passed alongside the Thames and got a wonderful view of the Millennium Wheel, as we reached Big Ben we came to a grinding halt as lots of people like me wanted their picture taken beneath it... The pace picked up as we zoomed past Buckingham Palace and decided to see if the Queen was in, judging by the flag she was! That was my favourite part of the journey, there was more space and it felt rather wonderful to be hurtling through London on those red roads on my bike from Rugby! We had a spot of lunch in St James Park and they had laid on a bike repair centre where we got our tyres pumped and Liz's bicycle saddle fixed... All too soon it was over, I was in half a mind to go round again, but instead it was back to Liverpool Street! Can't wait for the next one Boris!
were not alone in this notion, lots of families got on with their bikes at the station - we had decided the easiest thing to do was to get to Liverpool Street. I must say it was very odd to be wheeling my bike round a station in London and let me tell you it's not actually that easy to get a bike up an escalator! Liz took me through all the back streets as it's right near where she works. Suddenly we turned a corner and there we were in amongst literally thousands of like minded people in bright yellow tunics, madly cycling round London. We later learnt that approx. 85,000 people had turned out for the event! So as you can imagine the going was not exactly fast paced but that was fine as it gave us the opportunity to look at all the sites. We went under a tunnel that they had designated the loud zone - people rang their bike bells in sheer joyous abandon. Liz was very sad to discover she hadn't actually got one! There were also people on weird and wonderful bikes, a very cool lady adjacent to us for a time had a tricycle on which she had added a massive speaker! She played some awesome music as we peddled along, I really wanted to stay by her but she was soon swallowed up by the masses. We passed alongside the Thames and got a wonderful view of the Millennium Wheel, as we reached Big Ben we came to a grinding halt as lots of people like me wanted their picture taken beneath it... The pace picked up as we zoomed past Buckingham Palace and decided to see if the Queen was in, judging by the flag she was! That was my favourite part of the journey, there was more space and it felt rather wonderful to be hurtling through London on those red roads on my bike from Rugby! We had a spot of lunch in St James Park and they had laid on a bike repair centre where we got our tyres pumped and Liz's bicycle saddle fixed... All too soon it was over, I was in half a mind to go round again, but instead it was back to Liverpool Street! Can't wait for the next one Boris!